The Paper Work Can Wait
by Redrose001
Summary: Percy is in his office as the Battle of Hogwarts begins, debating if he should go and fight.


He's sitting at his desk and he's filling out paperwork. He knows that he shouldn't be doing paperwork now, it seems pointless do so right now as the ministry is in chaos. There are commands being shouted, wizards and witches are running around and preparing for a battle. Screams of terror and spells are being shouted as Death Eaters were in the ministry. While this is going on, Percy is working on his paperwork. He's made a start on the parchments that relate to building damage and insurance, this is not even his department but for some reason he's placed himself in charge of this task. He knows that he should be out of his office right now and right now he is a sitting target. A Death Eater could burst through the door at any moment even thought the charms that Percy has placed on the room has made him invisible and the silencing charm he had placed should help to cancel the slight noise of his quill scratching against the parchment.

He knows that he should have gone home when he had the chance. Go back home to the Burrow and apologise for being an idiot for that amount of time. For making his mother cry, it was the first time that he could actually remember her crying and he was the one who caused it. The feeling of guilt had never gone away from closing the door on her face when she came to his flat in London. He doesn't move though, he places his quill in his ink well before signing off another parchment. He had a few choices, he could go to Hogwarts and fight, he could stay in his office and hope for the best that nothing would happen to him, or he could go to his flat in London, quickly pack up his things and go another country. Australia had been a place that he wanted to go to for some reason.

He knows that his family are going to be at Hogwarts, he has no doubt about it. His family were in a battle at this moment of this, and there he was sitting in his office filling in pieces of parchment. He was pathetic. A coward. He had always been one, he hates to admit that he is one as he's always had such a high opinion of himself , but he has to admit that he is a great bloody idiot and a coward. He knows that he should be out there and fighting against this regime of terror. Go and fight for Hogwarts, his second home. Go and fight for Harry Potter. Fight alongside his family and his friends for the chance that there is something good left in his world. The coin that Alberfoth has given him when he has last in the pub is glowing, letting him know that battle has started. He wouldn't be a true Griffindor if he didn't go and fight, he would always been known to be even more of a disappointment than he was right now. Fred and George's voices ring in his ears as they chant, 'Perfect Percy,' in their mocking tones. 'Perfect,' would not be a word that Percy would use to describe himself right now.

Percy lets out a sigh and puts down the quill with a bit too much force, making ink stain the paper. He lets out a sigh, knowing that there are more pressing matters in the world than a piece of parchment in which he has to go and fill out again as he can't stand things looking untidy. He doesn't move from his desk just yet. Instead he goes into his desk drawer and pulls out a newspaper clipping that is underneath his prefect and Head Boy badges from school, he still polishes them regularly. The newspaper clipping has the picture of his family when they were in Egypt. It is the first time that he had looked at it in months. His father had posted it through the door of his office while he was in a meeting, Percy believed, with a note asking him to come back home or at least visit and stay for Sunday lunch. Percy had ignored the request for lunch and hastily shoved the picture into his desk drawer before he made a start on a large pile of parchments that the minister had given him.

Percy smiled at the picture tightly and closed his eyes as he let the guilt wash over him. He could remember that holiday so well, it was one of the few holidays that he had ever been on. He could remember that he complained the whole time that he was there, he complained about the heat, and he mostly complained about the twins, especially when they decided to lock him in a pyramid. His family laughed at their actions and the fact that he had nearly wet himself in fear as a ghoul had tried to grab him. His mother didn't laugh but he could tell that she wanted to as she scolded the twins for it. The photo looked strange to him, the people in front of them were almost strangers to him. He barely knew nothing about them and a lot had probably changed in the year or so that he had been away. He knew that George had lost an ear, Ron was on the run for some time with Potter and Granger and he stayed with Bill for some time. Bill had gotten married to Fleur and they had a disaster of a wedding. His parents were in relatively good health He had only knew bits and pieces about what was going on, Charlie had kept writing to him. For some reason his elder brother didn't take the same attitude towards him unlike the rest of his family. He had gotten a few letters of anger from Charlie in the begging, but they had been friendlier of late. Percy had never gotten around to writing back to Charlie, he did write back the once when Charlie threatened to go around to his flat in London with Bill in order to make sure that he wasn't dead, Percy replied to that one, a quick note insisting that he has fine and that he didn't need to be checked up on like a child. He never knew what to say to his brothers, he never knew what to say to his family. He did regret saying the things that he did say when the anger had worn off. His ego had never let him apologise and his pride and ambition were truly his folly. The whole conflict he had with his family could have been ended within a matter of days and not such a stretched out amount of time.

He would have to make amends sooner rather than later, he might not have a family to apologise to if he had waited. The paperwork can wait.

He let out another sigh, as he could hear spells being cast close to his office door. It would be a matter of time before he would be found. He picked up his quill and scribbled a letter of resignation on a spare sheet of parchment. He knew that there was a chance that no one was going to read it, but it made feel better and it would be the first step in making amends with his family, if they would take him back. He placed the newspaper cutting in his suit pocket and placed his perfectly polished prefects badge in his suit pocket and his Head Boy badge on his lapel, as someone was going to need to bring some order into this situation. He was 'Perfect Prefect Percy,' for all of those years and he believed that there might be some use for him even after all of this time of being imperfect, and someone needed to take some charge in this situation, as he was Head Boy in his last year of school.

He looked around his office for one last time, he placed his signature on the parchment before adjusting his tie before apparating to Hogwarts.


End file.
